NY Grocer Carpets Aisles For Safety, Style

Have you ever slipped and fallen on something at a grocery store? One New York City supermarket thinks it has a solution to the problem: carpet.

While the image of shoppers slipping on a banana peel might conjure up funny images from cartoons, to supermarket managers, it's no laughing matter. When an item falls to the floor, a potential liability exists, and the clock is ticking. That's because the longer the grape, tomato, kumquat or ... banana remains on the floor, the stronger the evidence of negligence. The grocery store isn't necessarily liable for an item dropped by a customer, but they can be liable for failing to clean it up in a timely manner if it poses a risk.

New York grocer D'Agostino is hoping its carpeted aisles help. Not only does the softer flooring drastically reduce the likelihood of customers slipping at the NY grocer, but according to Archie McCalla, manager of a D'Agostino store, the customers love it.

Even better, since D'Agostino installed carpet in McCalla, NY stores, broken items have been reduced by 95% and the stores have had zero slip-and-fall accidents. Store employees seem to love the carpet too. The NY grocer finds that it makes their jobs more comfortable on their joints.

So will we see a wave of carpet installations at grocery stores? Will tile flooring go the way of the dodo bird? Maybe, but it probably couldn't hurt.

Related Resources:

• Slip and Fall Accidents - Overview (FindLaw)
• Injuries A to Z (FindLaw)
• Slip and Fall Guy: Weather Man Advises P.I. Attorneys (FindLaw)